A journal of my Freedom Challenge mountain bike adventures, 2007, 2009(tandem)2011, 2012(solo) and 2014. Race to Rhodes and the 2300km Race Across South Africa. The race starts in Pietermaritzburg and ends in Wellington close to Cape Town, with a 26 day cut-off. The Ride to Rhodes(2008-unblogged and 2010) is a shortened version that starts in Pietermaritzburg and ends 6 days later in Rhodes.

Sunday, 15 January 2017

Racing The Munga 2016 - Last Race Village.

The route threaded between the vines of the farm Uitkoms before heading up the Bo-Swaarmoed Pass. It's only 3 km long and although not too challenging I walked the last kilometre. I could have ridden it but I wasn't in a hurry and it would have be a proper grind as the gearing on my bike 1x11 setup was more suited to the flat and fast sections of the Karoo.

Topping out I got back on my bike and made the best of a good tar road section before picking my way through the vineyards and grasslands to the last Race Village at Esselfontein Farm.

The guys manning the station were full of energy. I guess the station had only just opened with Jeannie and Heinrich having passed through a short while before. Nevertheless, they were in Energiser Bunny mode and had the stove and coffee machine fired up as soon as I walked through the door.

We were sitting around the table chatting when someone said something that at first made no sense to me - "You know you could still win this race?" I guess I had a very obvious 'Huh!' expression my face. They went on to explain that Jeannie had battled with a tyre problem and her and Heinrich had only left the support station a short while before I arrived. I turns out that a 'short while' was more than a handful of minutes and I had already been there for 20 minutes. They also commented that Heinrich was exhausted and that I looked fine. I might have looked fine but my legs and body were very aware of the 1000 kilometres that lay behind. A quick look at the tracking site confirmed that Heinrich was well out of reach so I asked for another cup of coffee and enjoyed their company for a while longer.

About Me

Just an ordinary guy who started riding in 2005 at the age of 45. I started with the ambition of completing the local 94.7 Cycle Challenge (94.7km). This is an annual road cycle race in and around Johanesburg. Some where along the way it become a race and not merely a completion excercise. I clocked a 2h54 in my first attempt only 6 months from my first trundle down the road and back. I was hooked and then discovered the magic of MTB. While my efforts on the road were credible, MTBing humbled me. Having said that, over the last 24 months I have competed in 9 multi-day events. I'm a very middle of the field rider, but I enjoy every minute of it.